Top 10 Tips to Become a Powerful Orator

Great orators like Socrates, Winston Churchill, Jawaharlal Nehru, Abraham Lincoln, and Swami Vivekananda gave speeches that left the audience spell bound and truly elated. They seemed to have the talent as an inborn gift, which cannot be replicated by anyone and everyone. There were certain peculiar characteristics all these great orators had in common. The way they connected with the audience, the words they chose, their convictions, and many other things which made their speeches live forever. So, if you’re preparing for an upcoming speech and want to create magic with it, here’s a list of the top 10 tips to keep in mind in order to become a powerful orator.

10. Be happy, playful and humorous:

Set back and think about the playful side of your speech or presentation. Taking everything seriously is fatal. The audience should feel easy in your presence. The best way to keep them engaged and attentive is to insert some calculated humor in the presentation. Crack a joke, be satirical, and never shy from deprecating yourself. Create a connect and bond with them. Everyone’s life in general is bleeding dry. So why not take some of the sour and replace with sweet?

9. Avoid lecturing:

Kids sleep during lecture, and adults are no less. Lecture is the anecdote for sleeping not arising. Speeches, therefore, have to stay at bay from monotony and drag. Make them interesting. You can do this by combining words with some audio visuals. Give people pictures and diagrams to remember. Even those of you who aren’t too good with words can keep this as a secret under the cover of technology.

8. Have the right stage presence:

Having the right stage presence does not mean that all men have to look dandy or handsome, or all women have to look pretty and gullible. There are two aspects to stage presence- the outside and the inside. From the outside make sure you dress your modest best, not to repulsive or inviting. Keep it neat and clean. Iron your clothes well, polish your shoes, and keep your hair tidy. On the inside, prepare yourself for the event well. Brush up all concepts, feel happy, and don’t let anything negative affect your performance.

7. Don’t be rushed or anxious:

Yes, there’s a slot for a speaker to give his speech, but this does not mean that anyone will throw you off the stage if you exceeded a few minutes. Don’t be in a rush to get over with it. A speech that is well nurtured should be delivered with ease, and at a pace that seems natural. The audience should be able to absorb everything given to them. Sometimes you may encounter the worse, like the mike going out of tune. Don’t panic, handle it calmly and responsibly.

6. It’s not always about correct grammar:

It’s important to speak the way you would in a conversation, assuming that grammar is not the end of it. Putting your point across to the audience is important than being grammatically correct. Moreover, there’s not going to be too many people paying attention to that. Replace everything else with confidence. Be upright, speak your heart out, be cool and appear natural.

5. Be convicted about what you speak:

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Being passionate and convicted about what you speak is important. Convincing others about what you’re doubtful about will clearly reflect in your oration. Be it a social issue, be it a company presentation, it’s about convincing a bunch of people about your beliefs and convictions. You can prepare this in advance. Always ask yourself basic questions like – what’s the underlying use of your speech? What good is to you and the audience? Am I convicted about what I’ll speak on or not?

4. Be expansive, inspiring and uplifting:

If you take close note of some of the best speeches in history, you’ll notice that influential speakers always give voice to what the masses have only known subconsciously. The audience loves to hear the words that would not come to them. They seek assurance, an expansion and some form of inspiration that awakes a majority to believe the words of the speaker. The more successfully you can do it, the better it is.

3. Give the audience something out-of-the-box:

The smart audience of today knows in advance about the major contents of a speech, or oration being delivered on a particular event. With the aid of the internet they can collect ample information on their own. So, as a speaker you can do two things. One, give them something totally new, something they will not get anywhere. Second, organize your presentation or speech in a manner that within the shortest span of time, it gives detailed information, which is both out-of-the box and inspiring.

2. Keep it simple and casual:

Times of formal lecturing are the thing of the past. Being casual eases the crowds and lets them breathe even when the topic of the speech is heavy. Don’t use language that is hard to understand. Fixing yourself in one place while you speak is also boring. Make better use of the stage area, move around; talk to the audience directly, and never take anything too seriously. Be relaxed all the time, there is no pressure.

1. Be an excellent story teller:

What’s the easiest way of putting things across to an audience? Oration means, you don’t have ages to come up with explanatory theories; in a matter a few minutes, the audience needs to be convinced of your ideas. Club facts and figures with interesting real life or fictional stories; the human race is always more inspired with emotional contexts that come from story narration. The brains capacity to retain stories is far better than recalling any numerical figures.